[joshuapants]

>Really the only way to decide what is "correct" where language usage is concerned is to see how people actually speak/write, AKA a descriptive approach.

This is tangentially related: the English language is a bit unusual in how flexible it is to change along with common usage. Other languages can have their usage dictated by the government; Germany, France, and Japan have all had noted language reforms that in some cases radically changed the language. That is not to say, however, that all their citizens automatically start following these reforms perfectly because lifelong habits are hard to break.

[70forty]

Do you know some examples of this for French, German or Japanese?

I know about the French Academy, for example. I would have assumed their influence didn't extend much beyond orthographic/spelling conventions.